Updated at 8:07 p.m. EDT, Sept. 13, 2011
At least 12 Iraqis were killed and 29 more were wounded in new violence. Meanwhile, a Turkish delegation is in Iraq, discussing the viability of a cross-border raid against Kurdish rebels.
Turkish Foreign Ministry undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu has been meeting with Iraqi officials in Baghdad and Arbil to discuss a possible ground action against Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.) bases in northern Iraq. Although Turkey has conducted artillery and air strikes for weeks, Ankara now seeks Baghdad’s permission to escalate operations.
Turkish tanks and troops have already been spotted on Iraqi soil, but Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan‘s meeting with his military chiefs yesterday has fueled speculation that the raid is imminent. Also, Turkey is worried about losing its access to U.S. intelligence and may be in a rush to end this decades-long guerilla war before the U.S. withdrawal at the end of the year.
Separately, Iran began a new shelling campaign in northern Iraq. Their targets are an offshoot of the P.K.K. known as the Party Of A Free Life Of Kurdistan.
A suicide bomber struck at a Sahwa checkpoint in Tarmiya, killing two people and wounding 10 others.
A bomb exploded in a funeral tent in Balad, killing one mourner and wounding another. At least five other people were wounded.
In Baghdad, three civilians were killed in a roadside bomb blast. A sticky bomb killed a Sahwa member in Amiriya. No casualties were reported after a bomb targeting a U.S. patrol exploded in Ghazaliya.
In Mosul, a hand grenade blast wounded three people, including a policeman. Another hand grenade attack left four people wounded, including three children. Two more were wounded in a third such attack.
Gunmen killed a guard at a Khalis poultry farm.
Two policemen were wounded when a bomb exploded at their Baquba checkpoint. Another bomb killed a civilian and wounded a second person.
In Kirkuk, gunmen killed a civilian and wounded a guard in separate attacks.
Soldiers raided a Ramadi home where they killed one man and arrested three relatives.
